Personally, I only agree to let cats out where they can be supervised. In a harness or run. I watched too many cats get sick and die outside and I watched my own childhood cat die miserably. People poisoning and grotesque garbage, cars and infection and disease. Nope.

Market here on apartments, condos and even bedsitting rooms are on the rise. More and more people are finding affordable housing to be an issue, don't even get into the whole pet fiasco. I was lucky we scored with this landlord, pets are totally cool- but the shelters are bursting at the seams with so many surrendered pets bc of landlords.

Yeah our elderly cat now is the oldest cat I think we have ever owned.

Our first cat Sambo (I know racist name but I was only a kid at the time) 'ran away' which I think probably means got hit by a car.

Our Siamese cat and the best cat I have ever owned, was hit by a car on the main road that runs two houses behind ours. The man who found him buried him and rang us after seeing our signs.

Our elderly cat Belle, who had been with me since I was only very young (I named her after the character in Beauty and the Beast) had her back broken in our front yard by an off-lead dog while I watched through the side gate. Watching our dignified and sweet old cat trying to drag her dead hind legs around was appalling. I will never forgive the owner of that dog for being so irresponsible.

Before them nearly every single one of my mum's cats was hit by cars. This was in the days before keeping cats exclusively inside became popular.

I worry now about our cat Whistler being inside. But he comes inside every night before dark (he doesn't like being outside at night) and wears a big bell to warn the birds off. Luckily our street is very quiet being a dead end and so it's less likely for him to be run over.

Still I always get a sinking feeling in my gut when he is late in for dinner. I worry that one day I am going to find his mangled remains on the road outside our house.

I also forgot the time me and my mum were driving and we found a Persian cat recently dead on the road. It had a collar on and as we didn't want the family who owned it to find it all run over and squashed, my mum got out and put it on the side of the road. It was a very sad ending to our night.

I had an outdoor cat for over 16 years and nothing ever happened to her. They do have shorter lifespans, but mostly because they are hit by cars or killed by other animals. Overall, they are much happier in a natural setting where they can roam around and kill birds and rodents. Whats the point of having an outdoor run when you can just have them look out the window? They will always be wanting to get out of the thing they're confined in. You're choosing quantity of life over quality of life if you keep your cat indoors.

Well I am on a limited budget and live between two main streets. Oliver would get smacked by a car- he wouldn't last a week. Sure, he would chase bugs and climb trees and I know he would enjoy that but getting hit by a car would be a painful miserable way to go. No, I love my cat too much. He can go out on a harness in the Spring. Too many little lives are lost. I am not choosing quantity over quality, I am choosing safety.

There is nothing worse than seeing a beloved pet killed/maimed in front of your own eyes.

I will never ever get the image of my childhood cat being shaken to near death by a dog.

You know what I told her that morning, "It won't kill you to go outside for once."

I regret the decision to wake up early and let her out all the time. If I had only let her out an hour or two later she would probably still have been alive.

If she was an indoor cat she would never have had to die in such a horrific and frightening manner.

Our cats live indoors and they are perfectly content. I do not buy into the quality/quantity argument.

I bet the cat that is lying maimed in the gutter after being struck by a car is not thinking its life is so wonderful outside.

Yes but a cat being maimed once and dying only happens once. A cat sitting inside wishing it could be free happens every second of every day of it's life.

Its fine if no one agrees with me because its just basic nature. Just look at animals in zoos. I completely understand where you're coming from...I am scarred for life after seeing VIDEOS of animals being killed. If I saw my own animal killed in front of me...I'd be torn apart. I would not put blame on myself though, and would just consider them unlucky if it was the first time the cat had been outside.

I have three cats, mini chickens & chicks, ducks, house plants, fish etc. My cats never chew plants, chase animals or anything. they're allowed to go outside as they please, and the neighbors never do anything bad to them. In fact, my cats have never even brought in songbirds (though they are numerous here) but have killed hundreds of pesky rodents. They also come inside when I call them.

Our elderly cat Bandit, has been an outdoor cat since he was a kitten. He would go insane if he was locked inside for any longer than a couple of days, scratching at the doors and running around the house. It's the only reason he was outside for so long when all the rest of our cats became inside cats.

He has settled into inside only life (he does get to putt around on the harness outside every once in a while) exceptionally well. He doesn't sit pining at the window or dart out the front door as soon as it is opened. Most of his day is spent sleeping, and the rest is spent following me around meowing for his food bowl to be filled.

Our two inside cats escape every so often. You know where they are when we find them? Huddled up under the house or in our neighbour's shed looking absolutely petrified.

My Siamese is allowed to sit up on the open window sill behind the fly wire as a treat. She has never once jumped or shown any intention to jump. It's only about a 1 metre or so drop down before she landed on something and if she was desperate to be free then I'm sure she would do it.

If you provide enough stimulation and mental enrichment, your cats can be perfectly happy living inside.

If our old cat passed away now, I wouldn't have to lie alseep at night wondering if he had been hit by a car and was laying half-dead somewhere afraid and alone. Worst is when they just vanish like our first cat, and you never lose hope they will find their way home.

Our cat was around 12-13 years when she was killed, our Siamese was 5 or so years and our cat now is 16 years. However, I believe the average lifespan of a cat living outdoors is around 2-5 years. For an animal that is capable of living up to 20 years, that seems like a lot of years wasted.

Our elderly cat Bandit, has been an outdoor cat since he was a kitten. He would go insane if he was locked inside for any longer than a couple of days, scratching at the doors and running around the house. It's the only reason he was outside for so long when all the rest of our cats became inside cats.

He has settled into inside only life (he does get to putt around on the harness outside every once in a while) exceptionally well. He doesn't sit pining at the window or dart out the front door as soon as it is opened. Most of his day is spent sleeping, and the rest is spent following me around meowing for his food bowl to be filled.

Our two inside cats escape every so often. You know where they are when we find them? Huddled up under the house or in our neighbour's shed looking absolutely petrified.

My Siamese is allowed to sit up on the open window sill behind the fly wire as a treat. She has never once jumped or shown any intention to jump. It's only about a 1 metre or so drop down before she landed on something and if she was desperate to be free then I'm sure she would do it.

If you provide enough stimulation and mental enrichment, your cats can be perfectly happy living inside.

If our old cat passed away now, I wouldn't have to lie alseep at night wondering if he had been hit by a car and was laying half-dead somewhere afraid and alone. Worst is when they just vanish like our first cat, and you never lose hope they will find their way home.

Our cat was around 12-13 years when she was killed, our Siamese was 5 or so years and our cat now is 16 years. However, I believe the average lifespan of a cat living outdoors is around 2-5 years. For an animal that is capable of living up to 20 years, that seems like a lot of years wasted.

I'm not sure what you mean by "I think you are projecting human emotions onto cats," but I kinda agree with your post now that I think about it. My cat had been an outdoor cat since she was a kitten, she was probably born outside to be honest. We got her from my aunt who owned a small "farm" of animals...dogs, chickens, cats, ducks, rabbits, etc. She was well versed in the outdoor life.

The two cats I have now have never been outside that I know of. I got them at around 10 - 16 weeks old, they aren't related and I got them a year apart, but I don't think they'd last a second outside. Especially Martini because she's kind of an idiot.

We'll never know what a cat really wants because it can't tell us exactly. Just gotta go with what makes you happiest in the end.